Thalia Jackson and the Three Prophecies
by Yanxia
Summary: When Frank, Jason, and Annabeth are kidnapped by a group of rogue Hunters, Thalia Jackson discovers a world full of gods, monsters, and demigods. She, Percy, Hazel, Piper, and Leo, along with Sammy and Trevor Valdez, Reyna and Gwen Grace, and other friends will have to work together to free the hostages. Rated T for a few swear words.
1. Thalia: Family

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except the characters I made up, like Thalia, Sammy, Trevor, Gwen, etc., but even those are named after characters in the PJ or HoO series. All credits go to Rick Riordan for being such an awesome writer and thinking of Percy Jackson in the first place!**

**This is my first fanfiction, so please review and tell me what you think. **

I was only four years old when almost my entire family moved to Manhattan, New York. We had previously been living in a small town in the Oakland Hills, but I don't remember too much about it.

Some vague memories surface occasionally, like an elephant in black armor surrounded by teenagers with weapons marching by. I also remember watching a group of people in bed sheet-looking outfits walking by to this big building near my school. I suppose it had seemed pretty normal to me at the time, but now, as I look back on it, it doesn't make sense. What would an elephant be doing in such a small, overlooked, Californian town, where we don't even have a zoo, along with a bunch heavily armed kids? It wasn't like the town was a military base or anything.

My parents called that place "New Rome." They had gone to college together there, gotten married in New York, and had three kids: my older brother Luke, me, and my younger brother Charlie. My mother worked as an architect and my dad as a marine biologist. When we moved, they had found new jobs in Manhattan. Mom works in the Empire State Building a lot, for some reason.

We have a really big family, with lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. We're not all really related, but it just feels that way because we're all so close.

Let's see, there's Aunt Piper and Uncle Jason Grace. Aunt Piper is a saleswoman. She's so successful persuading people to buy things, or anyone to do anything, really. Uncle Jason is a pilot for New York Airlines. He really enjoys the job, and it's almost like he can control the winds.

They've got three kids: Reyna, Gwen, and Tristan. Reyna and Gwen are fraternal twins and my best friends. They're really into fashion and makeup. Reyna has chocolate brown hair and electric blue eyes, while Gwen has silky blonde hair with startling green eyes, like me.

Tristan is a little annoying, but otherwise okay. He's twelve, three years younger than Reyna, Gwen, and I. The Graces live right across the street from us, so we see them the most often.

Next is Uncle Frank and Hazel Zhang. We kids are actually supposed to call her Aunt Hazel, but she thinks the title makes her seem old, even though she's only thirty-seven. She has her own magic business. Her stage name is Hazellina, and she's especially popular among younger kids. I asked her how she does her tricks, but she never tells anyone anything.

Uncle Frank is large and stocky and he keeps his hair in a military haircut, for some reason. He wasn't in the military in any way that I know of, but he seems to like it, so I don't say anything. He's handsome, in his own way, with broad shoulders and lots of muscles. I think he's written a few novels, but otherwise, I have no idea what he does for a living. The few times I've tried to ask, he just shut me out.

They have four kids: Emily, Penny, Jonah, and Connor. Jonah is fourteen and Emily is seventeen, and they're both really into sports. Jonah plays basketball and Emily is really good at soccer. They both have cinnamon brown hair and light brown eyes with flecks of gold in them. They could almost be twins, except for the three year age difference.

Connor is my age, and Gwen has a huge crush on him. He's tall and bulky, like Uncle Frank. He plays on the high school football team and I go with Gwen to watch his games sometimes.

Penny is nine and Hazel's part-time assistant, but even she doesn't know most of the magician's secrets. On the stage, she prefers to go by her full name, Penelope. She thinks it sounds more professional.

Next is Uncle Leo and Aunt Callie (short for Calypso) Valdez. They live a couple blocks over and own a place called Leo and Calypso's Garage: Auto Repair and Mechanical Monsters. The last part is a little bit of a joke. Uncle Leo named the place, and he's a real funny guy. He's got curly black hair and bit of a mischievous look in his eyes. Some would describe him as impish, especially his grin.

Aunt Callie is really sweet and pretty. They're both in their early forties, but she looks only twenty-eight. She's fashionable without trying, beautiful without makeup, glamorous without effort, and basically the person every woman aspires to be. She's practically a goddess.

They also have three kids: Esperanza, Elsa for short; Sammy, whose middle name, Arion, sounds like a horse name; and Trevor. I don't like Esperanza much; she's rude sometimes and just blurts stuff out without thinking about people's feelings. Then again, she's only eleven and she kind of idolizes me, so maybe she's not that bad.

Sammy is seventeen, two years older than me, but we're still really close friends. He's like another older brother to me, except kinder and more thoughtful than Luke. Ironically, he's best friends with Luke. He and I ask and give each other advice all the time.

Sammy has curly black hair like his father and dark dreamy eyes, like his mother. His skin color is rather pale, and there's a spray of freckles across his nose and cheeks.

Trevor is sixteen, and he and Sammy hardly look anything alike. Trevor's hair is cinnamon-colored and he has an olive complexion. His eyes are also dark brown, but they're more like Uncle Leo's than Aunt Callie's. His have a rather sneaky and mischievous look to them, one that would cause teachers to immediately put him in the front row, and give him a stink eye when he hadn't even done anything yet. He also has a really great singing voice, which I found out when he had to do a solo after his partner ditched him in the third grade talent show. Trevor is like his father, joking a lot, but he can also be serious and sensitive sometimes. I'm sorry to say that I've had a not-so-little crush on him ever since Uncle Frank, Hazel, Uncle Jason, and Aunt Piper, and my parents, my brothers, and I moved from New Rome to New York.

I've been told that my parents, Uncle Jason, Aunt Piper, Uncle Leo, Uncle Frank, and Hazel go way back, all the way to their teen years. Supposedly, they were all really close friends in high school. Most of them are ADHD and dyslexic, except for Uncle Frank, who wasn't dyslexic and won a ton of spelling awards when he was younger. Fortunately, I didn't inherit dyslexia from my parents, but I'm still ADHD.

A bad thing about having a large family is that you have to get them all gifts for Christmas and their birthdays. I've been doing this since I was eight years old. Luckily, I save most of my money, unlike Charlie, who spends all his allowance and birthday money as soon as he gets it. He usually ends up having to get cheap gifts for everyone, like a small package of candy, or a pencil, or a fake felt mustache. I buy nicer presents, like jewelry or cosmetics for the women and older girls, and small sports equipment for the boys.

On a brighter side, I get a lot of presents too. And birthday money. That's where I get most of the cash to pay for presents for people who give me cash. So the money was basically being recycled.

I was really looking forward to the holidays this year. I thought it would be nice and quiet and we could all have some quality family time. I really had no idea just how wild it would get.

Christmas was coming up in a few weeks, but I had already gotten presents for the family. Now all I had to worry about was surviving school until Winter Break. The teachers had really been loading the up homework on us, since it was the end of the semester. I'm usually a pretty good student, getting A's and B's most of the time, but lately, I've been slipping. My A average in English dropped to a B last week, while my B+ average in science dropped to a B-. I was working extra hard to bring my grades up, but I was afraid it wasn't going to be enough.

Dad and Mom had told me that if my overall grades for my core classes were all B's and above by the end of the semester, I got along with my brothers, and I showed that I could be responsible enough, they would let me have my own room. I currently shared with Luke and Charlie, but we had an extra guest room that we hadn't used for years. My brothers are pigs and since their side of the room is so messy, and I'm OCD, I'm constantly picking up after them. I was looking forward to having my own place.

After school on the day before Winter Break, we got our report cards in the mail. I left Luke's and Charlie's in the mailbox and hurriedly ripped mine open. I skimmed it quickly and breathed a sigh of relief.

English B+

Math A

Science B

Social Studies A-

Physical Education A

Art A+

I had gotten all B's and A's, no C's. I had also been getting along pretty well with Luke and Charlie, and I did all my chores for the last few months. I personally felt that I deserved that room.

When Mom and Dad came home that night, I showed them my report card.

"Wow, you did very well, honey," Mom complimented, running a hand through her blonde hair to untangle it. Her stormy gray eyes sparkled with happiness.

Dad peered over her over shoulder and smiled, showing perfect white teeth. His rather messy black hair needed to be cut, in my opinion, and his sea green eyes were bright and playful-looking. People often tell me I look a lot like him, and that's true. I have straight black hair, and green eyes. I'd rather be a blonde, like Mom. Gwen is blonde and she looks way better with green eyes than I ever would.

"Yes, very good," he agreed. "And I've noticed that you've been getting along better with your brothers and finished all your chores lately." His smile widened. "I think someone is going to get their own room."

"Yes!" I squealed excitedly, dropping the report card. I jumped up and down and gave Dad a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

After dinner, I got to work moving all my stuff into the guest room. There was already a bed, but I liked mine better, so Dad and Luke helped me switch them. What the boys were going to do with the other bed, I had no idea.

The new room pretty big and the walls were painted light blue. Besides the bed, there was a closet and a private bathroom with a sink, tub, toilet, and cabinet. I moved my bed around for a while before I finally found a good spot for it. One wall, I dedicated completely to pictures and posters. Some of photos showed Reyna, Gwen, and I, a few with Sammy, and lots of family pics. I hung up a large mirror, too, even though there was already one in the bathroom

It was past midnight by the time I finally finished moving stuff into and organizing my new room. I took a quick shower (in my new bathroom) and flopped onto the bed. I was bone tired, but luckily, tomorrow was Saturday, so I could sleep in.

The next morning, I woke up at around ten. Mom and Dad had already left for work, and my brothers were still sleeping, so I dragged myself down the stairs and over to the kitchen. I went into the freezer and toasted a couple of blueberry Eggo waffles. When they were a nice golden brown, I took them out and smeared butter on them, put some whipped cream, poured maple syrup, and topped it with fruit. Then I took my masterpiece breakfast into the living room to enjoy.

Our living room was pretty nice. It was big, with a recliner, a low coffee table, a couch, and a love seat. A large carpet with a maze pattern occupied most of the floor space. There was our new 52" flat screen TV on one of the pale green walls. A few nature paintings done by Mom hung on the walls to brighten up the place, but they made me feel sad, as a reminder of things I had missed.

As I munched Eggos, I turned on the TV. There was nothing good on. I flipped through several idiotic cartoons, boring news channels, and old comedies before finally shutting it off.

I finished my breakfast and went into the kitchen just in time to see Luke stumble down the stairs.

He's seventeen, two years older than me, with messy blonde hair and gray eyes, like Mom. Reyna likes him and thinks he's soooo dreamy, but I have no idea what she sees in him. Besides, he's two years older than her, too, and I think she should find someone else.

As a brother, he's not too bad and pretty cool. He's thoughtful and considerate, and he really, really likes Emily. This is another reason why I advised Reyna to back off. She doesn't know about Emily and I'd rather keep it that way.

I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," I said, putting my plate in the dishwasher.

"You're the one who's the sleepyhead," he retorted. "I woke up at seven this morning."

It didn't look that way. I took in his messy hair, tired eyes, and pajamas. It seemed like he'd just gotten out of bed.

He must've seen my skeptical look because he sat down and took some time to explain. "What I meant is that I got up at eight, did something, then went back to sleep."

"And what was that 'something' that you did?" I asked curiously.

"None of your business," he said coldly, turning away. Suddenly, I noticed his puffy red eyes. How could I have missed that earlier? Then he sniffed a little.

I was amazed. My brother, the big, tough guy that everyone in our family admired, had been crying.

I sat down next to him. "Okay, spill. What's wrong?"

"Well," he began carefully, "I asked Emily out."

Major alarm bells went off in my brain.

"So . . . ?"

"So she rejected me," he said glumly.

"In favor of . . . ?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know, and I don't care!" he said harshly.

"It's okay, Luke," I said, in an attempt to comfort him. "There are plenty of other nice, sweet, pretty girls out there."

"I don't want just any nice, sweet, pretty girl," he grumbled. "I want Emily."

"Well, we always want what we can't have," I said, shrugging.

"Yeah?" he snapped. "Like you want Trevor and can't have him?"

I looked at him in surprise. The only people I'd told were Reyna and Gwen. How had my brother found out?

"Yes, I know about that," he continued. "And from what I hear, your love life isn't going so well either. When's the last time you've talked to him? Two, three months ago?"

My face burned.

"This is not about me," I shot back. "This is about you and _your_ pathetic love life."

"My love life is not pathetic, missy. And it's getting a hell of a lot further than yours is."

I could not believe my brother was acting this way. He'd never been like this before. I stood up angrily.

"Really?" I said mockingly. "Getting rejected by a girl is having a good love life?"

"No, but at least I had the courage to try. You've been staring at Trevor for what, ten years now, you're _still_ not doing anything."

"Because I don't want to get turned down by the guy of my dreams, like you did."

"So you're too scared to try, then, huh?"

"You know what, Luke? I don't want to deal with all of your love life crap. It's not my fault you got denied by Emily."

Just then, Charlie came in. He was eleven, four years younger than me and dressed in a red T-shirt and jeans. His black hair was combed neatly, as usual, and his gray eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"What's going on?" he said, looking first at me, then at Luke. I was standing up, staring daggers at Luke. Luke's fists were clenched and his eyes were still red and puffy.

"Luke got dumped," I said casually.

"I did not get _dumped_, idiot!" Luke shouted, standing up so he could be eye level with me.

"Dumped, rejected, what's the difference?" I shrugged. "Besides, dumped is probably better, because at least you got a sliver of a chance with the girl, and not none at all, like you."

"Why you little—!"

"Stop, guys," Charlie interrupted, holding up his hands.

"He right. I'm leaving. It isn't worth the trouble talking to you." I sneered at Luke when Charlie wasn't looking and he shot me a look of hatred in return.

I walked upstairs and texted Sammy.

Me: _u busy?_

Sammy replied almost immediately.

Sammy: _no, why?  
><em>Me: _got in a big fight with Luke. Can I come over?  
><em>Sammy: _sure  
><em>Me: _b there in ten minutes  
><em>Sammy: _ok  
><em>Me: _one last thing  
><em>Sammy: _what?  
><em>Me: _is Trevor at home now?  
><em>Sammy: _yes. Why?  
><em>Me: _no reason. See u_

Since Sammy had said that Trevor was going to be there, I decided that I wanted to look good. I wanted a cool and fashionable look, but not a look that gave away the fact that I wanted to look cool and fashionable. I dug through my closet and finally decided on short white jeans, a faded loose tie-dyed shirt, and a casual pair of black sandals.

Then I went downstairs. Luke was in the dining room, eating breakfast. His back was faced towards me and I was tempted to startle him a sharp remark about how he couldn't a girlfriend. Charlie was nowhere to be seen. He was probably off playing with his friends.

I exited the house and slammed the door on the way out. Then I went into the garage to get my bike. It was a couple years old, but because I washed it frequently, it still looked fairly new. It was blue and white and I rode it at least once a week.

I wheeled it out of the garage, put on my helmet (also blue and white), and hopped on. Then I headed over to Sammy's house.

**Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please review!**


	2. Trevor: Lovesick

I was thinking about her while watching TV when the doorbell rang.

"Trevor!" Sammy yelled from upstairs. "That's Thalia. Can you get it?"

My heart flipped over. I had been crushing on Thalia Jackson ever since she moved here with her family from California over ten years ago. She's a year younger than me, at fifteen. I don't know what it was that made her so attractive. Her striking green eyes, her long, silky black hair that I'd never gotten to run my hands through. She's also way smarter than me, even though she's in the grade below me. I wished over and over again that she would be mine one day, but so far, that wasn't happening. We talked to each other pretty frequently, since she came over here to see Sammy so often. I don't know how she and Sammy gotten to be such close friends, but I was definitely jealous.

Sammy said he doesn't like Thalia in that way, that they're just friends. He knows how much I like her, but I don't think he's told her yet. What would such a great girl like her be doing with a guy like me? She's pretty, nice, and caring. It's no wonder that Esperanza treats her like a celebrity.

I got my butt off the couch and tried to get the wrinkles out of my shirt. Then I looked at myself in the full-length mirror that stood carelessly propped up against the living room wall. I was wearing a dark blue T-shirt with long jeans. I tried to comb back my messy black hair with my fingers and wipe off a dried white paint stain from my jeans, but to no avail. I supposed I could rush upstairs and change, but then Thalia would wonder why I was taking so long to answer.

I sighed to myself and walked towards the door. Just then, my annoying little sister, Esperanza, rushed into the living room.

"Who's at the door?" she asked excitedly. Then, without bothering to wait for me to answer, she rushed over to the peephole and peered out. "Ooh! Thalia's here!"

She immediately opened the door to invite her in. Thalia stood there, looking a little annoyed that she had been left outside for so long.

"Thanks," she said to Elsa, stepping over the threshold. "I wasn't sure how long I'd be standing out there."

I stood sheepishly in the corner of the room, wondering what she was thinking. I tried not to stare, but she looked so, well, hot. She was wearing short white jeans that showed off her long legs. She wore plain black sandals that revealed her naturally immaculate feet and toenails painted pale blue. She also had a loose tie-dyed top on.

She totally rocked the summer look . . . wait. It wasn't summer. I was so stupid not to have noticed that before. It should've been snowing, or at least a little cold, but the thermostat on the wall told me that it was a warm 80 degrees Fahrenheit, definitely not the way it should be. In fact, now that I thought about it, it hadn't been snowing or even mildly cold since winter had started.

"Hi, Thalia," Elsa piped up. "Do you want to hang out?"

"Uh, no, thanks," she replied, in her usual polite, efficient way. "Maybe another time. I came to talk to Sammy."

I felt a stab of jealously. Every single time she came over, it was almost always to see Sammy, or occasionally to play with *ahem* tolerate Elsa.

She greeted me with a somewhat friendly and cautious "Hey, Trevor!" and all my thoughts about anything instantly melted, replaced by thoughts of her again.

"Um, hi, Thalia," I said. As soon as the words escaped my lips, I mentally bonked myself on the head, though it felt good just to say her name.

_Really? That was all you could think of? _I scolded myself.

"I mean, uh, nice weather," I tried again. Mental slap. I shoved my hands into my pockets. That was even worse than before. What was I doing? I'd never been this nervous around Thalia before.

"Yeah, it's nice and sunny," she replied absentmindedly, looking out the window. Then she frowned. "Wait, it's winter. In Manhattan. Why is it nice and sunny?" She ran to the window and looked outside. Sure enough, there wasn't a hint of snow and the afternoon sun was dazzling. The plants and grass were green and lush and my mom's flowers were blossoming in the garden. Thalia checked the thermostat, like I had.

After a while, she commented, "This is so weird. Should we be panicking?"

I shrugged. Ugh. Mental punch this time. Isn't this the part where we're in some sort of crisis and I give her really good advice about what to do? And instead I just shrug like an idiot. Yeah, real smooth move to win the lady over.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to look. Sammy was there, wearing a green T-shirt and tan shorts. I glanced at Thalia.

"Hey, Sammy," she said, almost like the way she had greeted me, except this was done with a smile and seemed more friendly and open. I was immediately struck by another wave of jealousy that soon passed when she shot me a dazzling smile before heading up the stairs with Sammy.

"You like her, don't you, Trevor?" Elsa asked after a long pause. I was startled. Actually, I had forgotten that she was still there. It wasn't like Elsa to stay quiet during a conversation not including her for more than a few seconds. That short exchange between me and Thalia must've really been interesting.

I decided not to reply. For some reason, Elsa was just as skilled at discerning other people's lies as she was at lying.

"Ah ha!" she cried, pointing a marker-stained finger at me. "You _like _her!"

"I didn't say that," I replied carefully, knowing that any wrong word could be used against me.

"You didn't say anything," she shot back. "Which leads me to believe that you _do_ like her, otherwise, you would have openly denied my earlier accusation."

Note to self: little sisters are not always as dumb as they seem. Esperanza was going to be twelve in a few months, so she wasn't the ignorant six-year-old anymore who used to believe all the fibs I told her about the monster under her bed who would devour her if she didn't pay me five bucks or let me have her Halloween candy.

"If I said I did like her, would you tell her that?" I asked.

"Ah ha!" she said again. "I was right! I was right! I was right!" She began singing. "Trevor and Thalia, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Shut up!" I said fiercely, slapping a hand over her mouth. "Thalia's right upstairs, you know. She could hear you."

Elsa shrugged in apology as I slowly removed my hand from her mouth.

"So I was right," she said gleefully, licking her lips. "You like Thalia."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you've established that fact. Now, I'm wondering, are you going to tell her?"

Elsa shrugged again, this time with a sneaky look in her eye. "Who knows? But maybe you'll have a better chance of getting me to keep my mouth closed if you give me twenty bucks."

I groaned. My sister was getting more and more evil. "Really? What do you want twenty dollars for?"

"Never know when you'll need extra money," she replied, innocently twirling a strand of brown hair around her finger.

I sighed, then opened my wallet. I took out five bucks and handed it to her. "We'll see if you keep shut up. Then you get the rest."

She pocketed the money, then skipped up the stairs, hopefully to her room and not to tell Thalia about what I had just admitted.

I plopped back onto the couch and turned on the TV. I decided to check the news and see if they were reporting the strange weather change. I flipped the channels until I got to one that was reporting the weather. According to them, it was going to be eighty to eighty-five degrees Fahrenheit all day, with lots of sunshine and no rain, just like Hawaii. No mention of snow or any indication that something was amiss. Apparently everyone thought that this kind of weather in mid- December was perfectly normal. I pressed the power button on the remote control and headed upstairs to my room.

Sammy, Elsa, and I were lucky. We each got our own rooms. Mine was right across the hall from Sammy's, next to Elsa's. I turned the knob and went in.

My room was a decent size, with a window overlooking our backyard pool and lounge chairs. My bed occupied the far corner, while a desk with papers and my laptop stood in another. I had a closet against one wall and my dresser was neat and orderly. The only messy thing in my room were my shelves. They contained random books, trophies, and old school projects that I didn't want to throw away. There was a blue rug on the floor that was old and worn, but still really soft. The walls were painted white, with a few pictures of me, Sammy, Elsa, Thalia, Luke, Charlie, Reyna, Gwen, Tristan, Emily, Penny, Connor, and Jonah at Coney Island for my birthday.

I sat down on my bed to think. Then I realized: maybe I could eavesdrop on Thalia and Sammy while they were talking! As soon as the thought entered my head, I immediately felt guilty. If I got caught, my chances of being with Thalia would be lowered even more than they already were. Still I couldn't help my curiosity.

I quietly opened my bedroom door and snuck across the hall to Sammy's door. It was closed, but I could hear distinct muttering. I pressed my ear against the door and listened hard.

". . . really like him?" Sammy was saying.

"Yeah," Thalia replied. "He's so sweet and funny and nice."

"But really? I thought you had better taste," Sammy joked.

"Whatever. Just don't tell him, okay?"

Sammy sighed. "Fine. _You_ should really tell him though."

"And you should tell Emily. I think you'd make a cute couple."

"Yeah, but then your brother would get mad at me, and punch my lights out or something."

"He'll get over her rejection," Thalia said dismissively. "He's gotten over two others before her: Lindsay and Isabella. Besides, if she turned Luke down, then she must like someone else. And that someone could be you."

"He could like you, too," Sammy suggested.

"No," Thalia said. "He barely talks to me. I think he likes Gwen. Remember the time our whole family went to Coney Island for Trevor's birthday?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, he kept glancing at her and I was, like, so jealous."

"You should still let—"

I heard a sound behind me and took my ear off the door. I turned to see Elsa leaning against the wall and watching me with a smirk on her face. She had accidentally sneezed, alerting me to her presence.

Crap. Stupid sister. Just as I had almost figured out who Thalia liked.

"Damn you, Esperanza," I said, frustrated.

"Spying?" she asked curiously.

"No," I whispered. "Just, uh . . . eavesdropping."

"Wow, you must really be desperate," Elsa observed. "Did you find out anything?"

I shrugged. I wasn't about to tell my nosy little sister what I had just discovered.

"Fine, you don't want to tell me, I'll tell them you were listening to their conversation," she threatened.

Great. Just what I needed. More blackmail from my evil sister. "Fine. I'll tell you. But can we go downstairs first? I don't want Thalia and Sammy finding out I overheard them."

Elsa skipped down the stairs while I followed her gloomily. She sat down on one of the armchairs, crossed her legs, and then waited for the info. I flopped onto the couch.

When I remained silent, she said impatiently, "Well, are you going to tell me or not?"

"I'm not sure, but they were talking about who Thalia liked. She said something about that guy not liking her because he kept staring at Gwen so much at the time we went to Coney Island for my birthday."

"I see," said Elsa thoughtfully. She reminded me of a psychologist or a therapist. "And you're supremely jealous about this, yes?"

"Yes," I sighed.

"Have you ever considered the fact that it might be _you _who Thalia's talking about?" Elsa suggested.

I shrugged. "No, not really."

"Why not?" Elsa pressed. "You're not too bad looking."

I felt honored that my little sister, who was so stingy with compliments, had given me one.

"Thanks, but what about Connor? He's not bad looking either."

"Why are you being so negative? You can hope!"

"I am hoping," I grumbled. "It's just so unlikely that that hope with come true."

"Aren't you a little optimist," Elsa said, coming over and poking me.

"Ugh! Can't you just leave me alone?"

"Nope," Elsa replied. "However, since I'm nice, I'll give you the rest of the day off."

She raced up the stairs and I turned on the TV again to see if I wasn't going crazy about the lack of snow in New York in the winter.


End file.
